Constitutional referendum to be held next month

A constitutional referendum, which would change the presidential term in office and allow current President Lansana Conte to run for a third term, has been set for 11 November, media organisations quoted state radio as reporting on Thursday. The decision, which was taken on Wednesday after a council of ministers' meeting, comes a week after Conte announced that he was favoured to such a revision. Conte's Party for Unity and Progress (PUP- Parti pour l'unite et le progres) had been contemplating such a move for months. Opposition parties and the speaker of the national assembly have said that they oppose revision of the country's constitution. The opposition has formed the Movement Against the Referendum and for Democratic Change to mobilise Guineans to vote against the proposed amendment. Guinea's current constitution, which was amended in 1993, stipulates that the president can only serve two five-year terms. His current term would end in 2003.